Firm Description ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC, formerly ANDREW LORD & CO. and ANDREW C. LORD REGISTERED REP was founded in 1984. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC provides personalized confidential financial planning and investment management to individuals, trusts and estates. Advice is provided through consultation with the client and may include determination of financial objectives, identification of financial problems, cash flow management, tax planning, insurance planning, investment management, education funding, retirement planning, and estate planning. Investment advice and financial planning are integral parts of ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC’s offering. Investment advice is provided, with the client making the final decision on investment selection. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC does not act as a custodian of client assets. The client always maintains asset control. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC may place trades for clients who have granted the firm discretionary authority or under a limited power of attorney. Evaluation of each client's initial situation is provided to the client, often in the form of a financial “to do” list. Periodic reviews are also conducted from time to time to provide reminders of the specific courses of action that need to be taken. More frequent reviews occur but are not necessarily communicated to the client unless immediate changes are recommended. Other professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, etc.) are engaged directly by the client on an as-needed basis. Conflicts of interest are disclosed to the client wherever possible. The initial meeting is free of charge and is considered an exploratory interview to determine the extent to which financial planning and investment management may be beneficial to the client. Principal Owners Andrew C. Lord is a 100 % stockholder. Types of Advisory Services ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC provides investment supervisory services, also known as asset management services; manages investment advisory accounts not involving investment supervisory services; furnishes investment advice through consultations; issues reports about securities in writing or other devices which clients may use to evaluate securities. On more than an occasional basis, ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC furnishes advice to clients on matters not involving securities, such as financial planning matters, taxation issues, and trust services that often include estate planning. As of 12/31/2023 ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC manages approximately $378,634,000 assets for approximately 513 clients. $378,634,000 is managed on a discretionary basis. Tailored Relationships The goals and objectives for each client are documented in our client relationship management system. Investment policies reflect the clients stated goals and objectives. Clients may impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of securities. Agreements may not be assigned without written consent. Types of Agreements The following agreements define the typical client relationships: Financial Planning Agreement A financial plan is designed to help the client with aspects of financial planning without ongoing investment management after the financial plan is completed. The financial plan may include, but is not limited to: a net worth statement; a cash flow statement; a review of investment accounts including reviewing asset allocation and providing repositioning recommendations; strategic tax planning; a review of retirement accounts and plans including recommendations; a review of insurance policies and recommendations for changes, if necessary; one or more retirement scenarios; estate planning review and recommendations; and education planning with funding recommendations. Detailed investment advice and specific recommendations are provided as part of a financial plan. Implementation and methodology of implementation of the recommendation are directed by the client. The fee for a financial plan is predicated upon the facts known at the start of the engagement. Since financial planning is a discovery process, situations occur wherein the client is unaware of certain financial exposures or predicaments. In the event that the client’s situation is substantially different than disclosed at the initial meeting, a revised fee will be provided for mutual agreement. The client must approve the change of scope in advance of the additional work being performed when a fee increase is necessary. After delivery of a financial plan, future face-to-face meetings may be scheduled as necessary. Follow-up implementation work may be billed separately. Advisory Service Agreement Most clients choose to have ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC manage their assets in order to obtain ongoing in-depth advice and consulting. Many aspects of the client’s financial affairs are often reviewed, including those of their children. Realistic and measurable goals are set and strategies to reach those goals are discussed. As goals and objectives change over time, suggestions are made and implemented on an ongoing basis. The scope of work and fee for an Advisory Service Agreement is provided to the client in writing upon the start of the relationship. An Advisory Service Agreement may include cash flow management; insurance review; investment management (not including performance reporting); education planning; retirement planning; estate planning; and tax planning, as well as the implementation of recommendations within each area. Although

the Advisory Service Agreement is an ongoing agreement and constant adjustments are required, the length of service to the client is at the client’s discretion. The client or the investment manager may terminate an Agreement by written notice to the other party. At termination, fees will be billed on a pro rata basis for the portion of the quarter completed. The portfolio value at the completion of the prior full billing quarter is used as the basis for the fee computation, adjusted for the number of days during the billing quarter prior to termination. Retainer Agreement In some circumstances, a flat retainer is executed as part of an Advisory Service Agreement when it is more appropriate to work on a fixed- fee basis. Asset Management Assets are invested primarily in no-load or low-load mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, usually through discount brokers or fund companies. Fund companies charge each fund shareholder an investment management fee that is disclosed in the fund prospectus. Brokerages may charge a transaction fee for the purchase of some funds. Stocks and bonds may be purchased or sold through a brokerage account when appropriate. The brokerage firm charges a fee for stock and bond trades. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC does not receive compensation from custodians or fund companies other than in the form of research offerings (soft dollars). Investments may also include equities (stocks), warrants, corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, municipal securities, investment company securities (variable life insurance, variable annuities, and mutual funds shares), U. S. government securities and interests in partnerships. Initial public offerings (IPOs) are not available through ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC. Unaffiliated Wrap Program ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC does not offer a wrap fee program for its investment advisory services. However, ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC is a participating investment adviser in an unaffiliated wrap and managed account fee program sponsored by Valmark Advisers, Inc. (the “Valmark Program”). Through the Valmark Program, client assets are allocated to an unaffiliated third-party investment manager. The third- party investment manager, then, retains day-to-day responsibility for the discretionary management of the allocated assets. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC continues to render investment supervisory services to the client relative to the ongoing monitoring and review of account performance, asset allocation and client investment objectives. Under the Valmark Program, clients pay a wrap fee directly to the wrap fee program sponsor, which wrap fee includes our investment advisory fee, investment management fees attributable to the third-party investment manager, the execution of securities brokerage transactions, custody and reporting services. The third-party investment manager then remits a portion of the total fee to ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC. The client is under no obligation to participate in the Valmark Program. Participation in the Valmark Program may cost the participant more or less than purchasing such services separately. Termination of Agreement A Client may terminate any of the aforementioned agreements at any time by notifying ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC and paying the rate for the time spent on the investment advisory engagement prior to notification of termination. If the client made an advance payment, ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC will refund any unearned portion of the advance payment. ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC may terminate any of the aforementioned agreements at any time by notifying the client. in writing. If the client made an advance payment, ESSENTIAL PLANNING, LLC will refund any unearned portion of the advance payment. Retirement Rollovers-Potential for Conflict of Interest A client or prospective client leaving an employer typically has four options regarding an existing retirement plan (and may engage in a combination of these options): (i) leave the money in the former employer’s plan, if permitted, (ii) roll over the assets to the new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted, (iii) roll over to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash out the account value (which could, depending upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences). If Essential Planning recommends that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by Essential Planning, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if Essential Planning will earn new (or increase its current) compensation as a result of the rollover. If Essential Planning provides a recommendation as to whether a client should engage in a rollover or not (whether it is from an employer’s plan or an existing IRA), Essential Planning is acting as a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. No client is under any obligation to roll over retirement plan assets to an account managed by Essential Planning, whether it is from an employer’s plan or an existing IRA. Essential Planning’s Chief Compliance Officer, Andrew Lord, remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding the potential for conflict of interest presented by such rollover recommendation.